Apparatus for continuous fractional distillation of hydrocarbons.



No. 640,292. Patented Jan. 2, 1900..

H. A. FRASCH. l APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS FBACTIONAL DISTILLATION 0FHYDROCARBDN-S.

(Application filed Oct. 23, 1898.)

2 sheets-sheet I.

(No Model.)

Inventor wiflggk Patented Jan. 2, I900.

H C S A B F A H APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS FRAGTIONAL DISTILLATION 0FHYDROCARBONS.

(Application filed Oct. 2 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(No Model.)

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m: uoims VETERS c0. moroumnu wAsnmaTcm. n. c.

HANS A. FRASCH, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUS FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION 0F HYDROCARBONS.

iSPIECIFIOAEION forming part of Letters Patent No. 640,292, datedJanuary 2, 1900.

Application filed October 23, 1896. fierial No. 609,837.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, Hans A. FRASOH, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for theContinuous Fractional Distillation of Hydrocarbons, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide for the separation from abody of high boiling-point of another body or bodies of lower boilingpoint or pointsas, for example, separation by volatilization of asolvent from the solution made by it.

The invention, as will presently appear, is applicable generally to theseparation of the volatile constituents of hydrocarbons by a process ofcontinuous fractional distillation, and the concrete specific use towhich the invention has already been successfully applied is the freeingof a solution of bitumen or asphalt in benzin from the solvent and therecovery of the solvent thus applied.

lVithout thereby limiting the invention I will describe it as applied tothe liberation of benzin from a solution of bitumen or asphalt obtainedin the manner set forth in and forming the subject of my Patent No.581,546, dated April 27, 1897.

In carrying out my invention I make use of a co1umn-still, consisting ofshells having continuous communication from one to the other atalternate ends and over flanges which retain a quantity of the fluid,whereby the fluid to be treated may descend from shell to shell in athin iilm-like stream, so as to get the greatest expanse ofevaporating-surface, each shell having a heating-coil arranged in itsbottom and supplied with steam heat under regulated pressure, the steambeing circulated by manifolds and a manifold connected with eachalternate shell to take off the vapors from two adjacent shells. Thebottom shell has an outward open extension, into which the heatingmedium extends, so as to keep the material therein in a fluid condition,such extension being separated from the main body of the shell by abridge, which dips down into the fluid and forms a vapor-seal, and theextension also being supplied with an overflow.

similarly exhausted therefrom.

(No model.)

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is anelevation and partial section of an apparatus for carrying out myinvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view, with the cover removed, of the bottomshells or pans of the apparatus; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of aportion of the apparatus, showing the tortuous passage for the flow ofthe fluid.

The still or column is composed of three kinds of shells or pans, whichare designated, respectively, a, Z), and 0. These shells or pans aresubstantially alike, and their differences will be pointed out in theprogress of this specification. All the pans are alike in being composedof rectangular frames having laterally-projecting flanges d all around,by means of which flanges the superposed sec-'- tions may be boltedtogether to form a column. The uppermost shell or pan is pro vided witha cover 6, which is supplied with an inlet f, by which the substance tobe treated is introduced into the apparatus at the top. The pans a and bare provided with imperforate bottoms g h, which are alike exceptingthat the bottom 1 of the pan a ends, as in Fig. 3, short of theleft-hand end to form a transverse passage 41 from the upper pan a tothe lower pan b, the bottom having a vertical flange j to provide for acertain depth of fluid in the pan at all times during the progress ofthe operation, and the bottom of the pan 1) ends short of the right-handend of the pan to form the transverse passage-way 7o between the saidpan 7) and the pan to, situated immediately below it, the bottom ofpan 1) ending in a vertical flange Z for the same purpose as the flangejof pan a. In this way a tortuous passage is formed throughout the columnof shells or pans and communication is aiforded not only for thedescending fluid, but also for the ascending vapors throughout thecolumn. vided with a coil of heating-pipes m, laid on its bottom andstanding thereupon to the height of the overflow-flanges j and Z. Thesecoils of pipes are designed to receive heat. Steam is introduced intoopposite ends of the column at every alternate pan or shell and To thisend a n are manifolds for the live steam, said Each pan is pro manifoldsbeing arranged at opposite ends of the column and having suitable pipesconnecting the one at one end with the pans a and the other at the otherend with the pans b, and 0 0 are manifolds similarly disposed atopposite ends and on opposite sides of the column for the reception ofthe exhaust-steam. For convenience the manifolds n will be referred toas the inlets and the manifolds 0 will be referred to as the returnsflInasmuch as the shells or pans CL and b are arranged in pairs andcommunicating it will be sufficient to provide the pans a of the pairswith a vapor-outlet, by means of which the vapor arising in the pairsmay be led away, and for the purpose of recovering this vapordownwardly-bent pipes 19 are connected with the manifold q, and thismanifold may have an outlet into any suitable receiver or condenser.

The pan 0 has a continuous closed bottom and is supplied with aheating-coil c, which is supplied with steam from one of the manifolds nand connected with one of the returns 0. The pan 0 differs from theother pans in having an external trough 0", into which the heating-coilis projected, and this trough is supplied with the overflow-pipes s, bymeans of which the concentrated solution from which the solvent has beenextracted is conveyed away to suitable storage-receptacles. I prefer toelevate the discharge-pipes .9 considerably above the bottom of thetrough r and the bridge 0 in order to obtain a sealed outlet, whichprevents vapor from leaving the still, but permits the discharge of thenon volatilized fluid. Furthermore, by having the trough 'r close up toand outside of the column and by having the heating apparatus extendinginto it the matter treated is kept in fluid form and is constantlybefore the operator for inspection as to density and for ascertainmentof the condition or the prog- 'ress of the process being carried on inthe apparatus.

The apparatus as just described is designed to effect the separation oftwo bodies or substancesas, for example, confining the specification tothe single instance selected, to the liberation and recovery of thevolatile solvent used in the extraction of bitumen or asphalt from rock.The fluid solution is introduced into the still at the top, and thestill is heated to a temperature equalto or about equal to theboilingpoint of the solvent and certainly less than the boiling-point ofthe bitumen, and as the fluid overflows the successive flanges j and Inits exposure to the heat of the steam-coils effects the liberation ofthe solvent, which escapes through the pipes 10 into the manifold q,while the bitumen or asphalt becomes more and more concentrated as itprogresses to the bottom of the still.

Should it be desired to treat a substance containing more than onevolatile bodyfor instance, two or three such bodies the boilingpoints ofwhich are differentthen by a simple arrangement of valves the still maybe arranged so that it may be divided into several groups of shells orpans and their heatin gcoils, to which steam at different pressures, andhence at different temperatures, may be supplied, the steam of lowestpressure and temperature being supplied to the uppermost group, andsteam of higher pressure and temperature to the next lower group, andsuperheated steam or steam of highest pressure and temperature to shellsof the lowest group. Fig. 1 illustrates my apparatus equipped for suchoperation, the shells or pans included within the bracket A constitutingone group, the shells or pans within the bracket B constituting thesecond group, and those included within the bracket 0 constituting thethird group. The steam-inlet manifolds are provided with as many valvedsteam-induction pipes 15 as there are sections, and the said manifoldsare also provided in themselves with the cooks it, which divide themanifold into compartments containingdifferentsteampressures and renderit possible to use the manifoldasasinglecompartment. Thesteamreturnpipes are provided with separate valved waste-pipes 'u and the cooks w,which latter separate the manifold 0 into as many compartments as thereare in the manifold n. The vapor-manifold q is provided with acondenser-outlet w for each group of shells, and it is also suppliedwith a cock y for each of the two uppermost groups. The pipes 00 leadinto independent condensers z,from which the condensed solvent may berecovered.

Now with an apparatus equipped as is that shown in Fig. 1 it is obviousthat by properly manipulating the valves the whole column may beutilized for the separation of simply two bodies, while on the otherhand it maybe utilized for the separation of three or of four bodies,and this facility for the separation of a number of bodies contained ina given substance, which bodies are liberated by the application of heatappropriate to their respective boiling-points, renders my inventionespecially valuable in the treah ment of complex hydrocarbons.

The manifolds may be provided with pressure-gages, so that thetemperatures in the several compartment-s may be figured from thepressures indicated by the respective gages. I

The condenser-pipes 0c are supplied with the valves 00' in order thatany one or more of the condensers may be used.

The shells or pans being made in pairs, ac cess may be had to the twopans of a pair through the plugged openings 1) of the shells b forcleaning or inspecting and for other purposes.

The invention is not restricted to use in connection with the substancesparticularly mentioned, and hence I desire to be understood as coveringthe invention generally as it may be or may be found to be applicable tothe liberation of volatile solvents from substances generally.

Instead of using coils for heating the pans or shells I may constructsuch pans or shells with double bottoms or with hollow bottoms, and,indeed, any well-known appliances for introducing indirect steam heatmay be utilized.

What I claim is 1. In a distilling-column,consisting of a series ofcommunicating shells, a manifold connected with alternate shells toreceive the vapor from every two shells, and means for conducting awaythe separate vapors at several desired points to separate condensers,and a bottom shell having an open outlet and a vapor-seal at the base ofthe column of shells, substantially as described.

2. A series of communicating shells, each having an overflow into theshellnext below,

a heating medium in the bottom of each shell, a manifold communicatingwith alternate shells to receive the vapor from that shell and the oneimmediately beneath it, and a bottom shell having a bridge projectingdown into the fluid in the shell, the said shell hav ing an outward openextension into which the heating medium also extends, and an overflow,substantially as described.

3. In a distilling apparatus composed of a number of superposed sectionsor shells, a bottom section having the open outwardlyprojecting outletand a vapor-seal adjacent said outlet, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day ofOctober, A. D. 1896.

HANS A. FRASCH.

WVitnesses:

HENRY A. TOBELMAN, F. S'ronnn BROWN.

